


How To Save A Life

by Queer_Trash_Queen



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Sad, Song fic, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-26 16:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queer_Trash_Queen/pseuds/Queer_Trash_Queen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 2018. One Direction has been coming apart at the seams for a while, and after a tragedy that rocks not only the band but the world, Zayn sets out to give one last performance dedicated to his boyfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Save A Life

TONIGHT ONLY!  
SOLO PERFORMANCE BY: ZAYN MALIK OF ONE DIRECTION 

'Breathe in, breathe out.'

BREAKING NEWS:  
ONE DIRECTION INDEFINITE HIATUS.

The house lights go down. The stage lights come up.

'Inhale, exhale. Inhale again. Open your mouth. Ignore the ocean of people waiting to judge your story, your music. Now sing.'

"Step one you say you need to talk/ he walks you say sit down its just a talk/ he smiles politely back at you/ you stare politely right on through/ some sort of window to your right/ as he goes left and you stay right/ between the lines of fear and blame/ and you begin to wonder why you came"

He coaches himself through the first verse with simple instructions. 

'Remember to breathe. Keep it together.'

[video] reporter: "The British/ Irish boy band known as One Direction have officially split up. Modest Management have released an official statement this morning, stating the break up is for "personal reasons", but a source close to the band confided that it is in fact due to the terrible tragedy that occurred in late March. That tragedy, of course is the death of none other than..."

 

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend/ somewhere along in the bitterness/ and I would have stayed up with you all night/ had I known how to save a life."

'Keep singing, don't stop. Don't let them break you. Do it for him.'

"Let him know that you know best/ cause after all you do know best/ try to step past his defense/ without granting innocence."

Right. He always has to be right. Li was never right, not in his eyes. Never.

"Lay down a list of what is wrong/ things you told him all along/ and pray to god he hears you/ and I pray to god he hears me."

He tried to help, really he did. He tried to stop him, to save him. It  
wasn't enough. 

"Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend/ somewhere along in the bitterness/ and I would have stayed up with you all night/ had I known how to save a life."

Pray to god there aren't cameras. Who is he kidding, of course there's fucking cameras. 'Push through, don't cry. Don't cry. Stop crying!'

"As he begins to raise his voice, you lower yours/ grant him one last choice/ drive until you lose the road/ or break with the ones you've followed."

Yelling, shouting, all the time. Back and forth. Loud, louder, loudest. Screaming.

 

~ Liam Payne - of the British pop sensation One Direction - passed away last Sunday night. Police have not yet released the official cause of death. ~

"He will do one of two things/ he will admit to everything/ or he'll say he's just not the same/ and you'll begin to wonder why to came/ I began to wonder why I came."

He admitted everything. All of it. And then two days later... He was gone. 

LIAM PAYNE OF ONE DIRECTION NOT SO INNOCENT?  
Police reports indicate that the 25 year old died of an overdose of heroin in March. Whether this was intentional remains a mystery, but an unnamed inside source claimed that the young singer had been "hanging with the wrong crowd for a while" and that his boyfriend of three years - fellow bandmate Zayn Malik - his close friends, and his family were "worried that something like this would happen sooner or later if he didn't get help." When the band was put together on The X- Factor in 2010, Payne was oft considered the "naive" and "innocent" one. Perhaps this image was a misconception, or perhaps he simply out grew it. The world will never know.

'Hold it in, dammit! Don't let them see you cry. Don't do it!'

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend/ somewhere along in the bitterness/ and I would have stayed up with you all night/ had I known how to save a life/ where did I go wrong I lost a friend/ somewhere along in the bitterness/ and I would have stayed up with him all night/ had I known how to save a life/ how to save a life/ how to save a life."

He stays up with Liam every night now. Oh yes, he visits him. Cold and pale. Dead, but still just as breathtaking as he was alive. 

Fuck the cameras. Fuck the tabloids. This song is for them, about them, and them alone.

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend/ somewhere along in the bitterness/ if I'd stayed up with him all night, then I'd know / how to save a life." 

God, he misses him. He weeps openly now, without thoughts of who will see and what papers his tears will be splashed across tomorrow.

"Where did I go wrong?/ I lost a friend/ somewhere along in the bitterness." 

He sings directly to him now, forgets the thousands of people crying and screaming around him. He sings for him. Only for him. Always.

"If I'd stayed up with you all night, them I'd know how to save a life/ how to save a life/ How to save his life."

He's done, finally finished. He drops to his knees in the center of the stage and lets the grief wash over him, mingling with the screams of the arena. His hands thread into his hair, pulling, trying to...to what? Make him forget? Punish himself? The crowd riots before him, but he doesn't see them, doesn't hear the shouts. 

Someone pulls him off the stage, drags him away just as the fans overwhelm the security guards. They climb over the barriers, trample each other, crawl onto the stage. Madness. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches a glimpse of an impossibly familiar face. 

Liam smiles sadly at him, and waves. Then he's swept into the chaos of backstage. He feels a sinking sensation in his chest, and he knows, just knows, that this is the last time he'll be seeing Liam for a while, if ever again.

 

MODERN ROMEO AND JULIET?  
Or should we say Romeo and Julio? Zayn Malik and Liam Payne of One Direction came out in 2015 amidst much controversy and against the wishes of Modest management. Two and a half years later, Liam and Zayn were both spotted looking at rings on separate occasions. In later interviews, both agreed that no engagement had been made, but it was certainly a possibility in the near future. The couple were together for just over three years when Liam overdosed on heroin in late March this year. The question still remains as to whether Liam's overdose was intentional or accidental. In July, Zayn Malik performed a single written about his late boyfriend. The solo concert will go down in history for many things, but most of all for the riot it caused. Fans overwhelmed security in order to climb on stage and five people were taken to the hospital in the aftermath, three with severe injuries. Most recently in this tragic string of events, Zayn Malik was found dead in the apartment he once shared with his boyfriend (and rumored fiancée.) Officials say that his cause of death was a a combined overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills. When he was found (by bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan), he was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. 

Dying hurts. He knew it would, but he also knew it was worth it. The smile on Liam's face is worth dying a thousands times over, and now he gets to see that smile for the rest of eternity. He was so happy to see him, the real Liam, not the one wasted away by the drugs. Liam had been waiting for him, with a sad smile on his face. 

"I'd hoped I wouldn't be seeing you like this for a few decades," Liam had said into his shoulder.

"I couldn't do it without you," he'd replied.

And someday, they'll get to see the boys again, and their families - though hopefully not until they're all old and grey. For now though, they have each other, and really, that's all they've ever needed.

@Mrs_stypayhorlikson - Well miss u Liam:(  
#ripliam

@Mommydirection- Forever in our thoughts...  
#ripzayn

@louistomlinbum22- can't believe this is happening...  
#ripziam

@Mrshoran-Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy?  
#ripziam

@harrystyles - one direction is officially over guys:( it just wasn't the same without Liam...sorry:(  
#sorryguys #missuliam

@Dirrrrrrectioner - Omg I can't believe this!  
#ripliam #ripziam #ripzayn

@beibergurl921 - my heart goes out to all you directioners 3  
#belieberssupportdirectioners

@Louis_Tomlinson - forever in our hearts and memories @Real_Liam_Payne and @Zaynmalik 

@swifty4lyfe - poor Ziam:(  
#ripziam 

@sarah_bear422 - with these lads since the beginning nd i was 16 years old. My daughter loves them, she cried for Ziam too  
#stillhere

@boobearanddaddydirection  
We miss youuuu:(  
#ripliam #ripzayn #ripziam

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading:) This is my first post on Ao3, so the formatting may be a little off, but once I get the hang of things I'll come back and fix everything. By the way, the bit at the end is intended to be tweets, but I wrote and published this from my phone, so the set up isn't the exact same as twitter's.


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